Socotra [2023]

Dec 10, 2023
6 min read

With its hundreds of endemic flora and fauna, Socotra is such a magical, almost "alien," place that we hope retains its atmosphere of beauty and wilderness. Nick had been wanting to go to Socotra a long before it became an Instagram hotspot. We started looking into it when flights from Abu Dhabi to Hadiboh opened up. After hearing the accounts of a few friends, we booked the trip...and LOVED it. It took a while to get around to this write-up, so some detail has been inevitably lost, but the main locations are included with the help of the day-by-day guide provided by Welcome to Socotra.

Pre-trip Notes

Tours: As far as we know, you can't independently travel to Socotra. You're required to go through a tour operator. Many of them are very similar in how they operate and where they go, but we went with Welcome to Socotra and found them to be really great. That being said, they are expensive (even including the plane ticket (you can find cheaper options for larger groups). Customs was chaotic when we arrived, but all of the tour operators were good about finding their respective people to provide them with the proper visas.
Travel Insurance: Tours are generally set for one full week, as flights were only 2 times per week (in 2023). So, we stayed from Tuesday to the following Tuesday. Since flight availability and access to the island are limited (and technically being part of Yemen), travel insurance is basically non-existent. We did extensive research to see if any travel insurance for the common person existed butt came up empty.
Amenities: While Socotra has become an Instagram haven, do know that toilets and showers are "primitive" (e.g. floor toilets and skeleton showers). Also, cell phone service is VERY limited (really only at the airport).
Money: You'll need to pay for half of your trip as a down-payment before you arrive, and the remaining half must be paid in American dollars when you arrive. Not only that, they had to be bills after a certain year and in pristine condition. This wasn't the first time we had to deal with the pristine bill issue, but we still don't like to travel with that much cash. Other things you might want cash for include a tip for your guide(s), as well as any trinkets/souvenirs you may want to take back with you.
Alcohol: You are allowed to bring a limited amount of alcohol with you. We did not know that, therefore did not take any with us.
Socotri: Like all we've met from the Middle East, they were incredibly warm and friendly.

What We Did

Arher

Here we set up camp for our first night and climbed up a massive sand dune that hugs a mountain. This was our first opportunity to get to meet others from around the world in our group while we had some fun and watched the sunset. We also got up early the next day for the sunrise (~4 am) on top of the dune, as well. The days usually started early, which we honestly didn't hate, because that meant we got to see so much of the island.
Side note: I think it was here we saw our first dried up puffer fish. The poor things wash ashore and puff up out of fear, which doesn't help them get back to the sea. We don't recall which beach it was, but there was one spot in particular where we saw hundreds of them washed ashore (has a massive whale head skeleton at its main parking spot).

Homhill

We hiked up a gorgeous valley to see our first Dragon Blood tree. But first we swam in the refreshing natural infinity pool, which was super nice. Then, not only did we see our first Dragon Blood, we also saw loads of Frankincense and Bottle trees.
Also here is a little museum with a few traditional items donated by locals <3

Erissel

We visited this village to enjoy chai made by the locals. While we drank our tea, the curious kids gathered to sing us songs and borderline demanded we sing them a song. Given we were all coming from different countries, we had a hard time finding a song we all knew. We ended up singing a Christmas song XD

Wadi Kalissan

This was such a fun day when we hiked this wadi filled with turquoise pools. We swam, did a little deep-water solo, and even did some cliff jumping (up to 6 m!).

Dihamri Marine Protected Area

We didn't feel comfortable diving here without any travel insurance and/or knowing access to emergency evacuation, but some of our friends did and really enjoyed it. The surf was too rough to snorkel, unfortunately, which would end up being a bit of a theme during our visit (but not uncommon, we learned it was windy season). However, we were able to climb around the rhyolitic rocks and explore the tide pools before enjoying an amazing Milky Way-filled night sky and a red moonrise <3

Hadiboh

The capital city, we stopped here mostly because some of the group members needed to work some things out with the operator office. We walked around a bit to get snacks, and saw some wet markets. Be aware you may get some scammy behavior with money conversions /change when purchasing stuff. It is only a few dollars in reality so not worth fighting, just something to note.

Diksam Plateau / Fermhin Forest

ALL the Dragon Bloods! A true forest of these unique trees that are unfortunately endangered. The introduction of goats has severely impacted their survival, with little to no new trees being able to survive past goat-eating height. The trees you do see are hundreds of years old. We also found lots of large happy spiders throughout the forest :)

Wadi Dirhur: We also enjoyed lunch in this wadi, after which Nick and I took a fun little hike jumping from boulder to bolder amongst the bubbling stream filled with little freshwater fish and crabs.

Aomak

Honestly, the most breathtaking expanse of beach we have ever seen. White sand meets the sparkling turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.
Dagub Cave: We visited this little cave on our way to our next camp site. It had long been used for shelter from monsoons, and is easily accessed on foot. There was a group of local women having their lunch while we took some group photos.

Zahek

We felt like we were back in Abu Dhabi amongst these desert sand dunes. And boy was it windy. While we were bombarded by sand grains, we took a nice walk in the direction of the water, stopping at collections of trees between dunes along the way.

Detwah Lagoon

Cave Man: What an interesting person. Having lived in the Alayeh Cave most of his life, he has learned an astonishing amount of English through travelers' constant visits. He also has a big sense of humor, so his stories were borderline bonkers. He now lives in the nearby village with his family, but he frequents the cave for tourist visits. He even showed us the fauna of the lagoon: sea potatoes, sea cucumbers, squid eggs, puffer fish, razor clams, and crabs.

The infamous Socotri "Cave Man," Abdullah

We also hiked up the tallest mountain in the area. We were (literally) herded up the mountain by a local guide/farmer, and the views at the top were core memory-worthy. It was such a beautiful view of the lagoon and ocean beyond.

Qalinsiya

They tried to take us to the nearby Shoab beach, but the water was much too choppy. Ash was nearly tossed from the boat. We were a little disappointed to have to head back, but it would have honestly been too unsafe to make the journey. So, instead we went to the local school. The kids are so so curious and friendly, asking for photos (sura) constantly. We even went into one of the girls' classrooms, where the girls asked a lot about where we were from and what we do for a living (even asking some of us ladies if we were married :P). We walked the village a bit to take photos of the colorful metal doors, all while followed by kids who we were told were on their mid-morning break.
Side note: Before heading back to the airport, we stopped by a rusty WWII era Soviet tank for a few photos.

Food

Food was made by locals, facilitated through our tour. It was a little difficult as a vegetarian (the same rice and veggies every day), but the meat-eaters enjoyed fresh goat, lobster, and fish throughout the trip. It was really great food, but by day 7 we were ready to have something a little different. But like we said, we were very well taken care of when it came to remaining fed!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d4f7d7_2d9db64883cc4e8784f3544288d42fe2/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Socotra [2023]

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